Blood Brothers
by FanficFixation
Summary: When Rudy Cooper revealed his true identity Dexter's world was turned upside down; in more way's then he could ever imagine. His dreams of a new beginning are shattered when his brother becomes a threat that must be eliminated, but Brian isn't an easy catch.


**Authors Note**

I know the Dexter fandom has died out a little now the series has ended but I've had the motivation to write this for a while. This fic takes place at the end of series one after the ice truck killer case and explores the relationship and history between Dexter and Brian, an alternate ending of sorts, I hope you enjoy it.

**Blood Brothers**

**Chapter 1**

Dexter Morgan stepped out of his car and slowly approached the last house at the end of Mangrove Drive.

The old silver garden gate creaked with age as he pushed it open and stepped forward hesitantly. Despite the overgrown plants and shrubs the house in front of him seemed worn and cosy, it didn't seem any different from any other house on the street.

Was he in the right place?

He squinted at the aged numbers on the mail box '1235', this was it.

It was strange, the place had a sense of familiarity, it wasn't until he laid his eyes on two symmetrical trees sitting either side of the lawn that memories he didn't even know existed in his mind came flooding back to him.

_A beautiful woman stepped out from the front porch, gracefully gliding down the wooden steps and onto the footpath of a flourishing garden. The grass was littered with children's toys, bikes, balls and a few stray pebbles from the footpath._

'_Dexter?' the brunette called, looking left and right, 'where are you, you silly little bear?'_

_Her pony tailed hair blew freely in the wind, flowing against her petite shoulders._

'_I'm going to find you!' she smiled playfully, brushing her hands down her short green skirt._

_She reached out a hand to pull back the long leaves of a bush to peak around the side, her painted multi-colored nails sparkled in the light._

'_I'm here!' a young boy jumped out, laughing and giggling as his mother wrapped her arms around him._

'_I found you!' she laughed, ruffling his fluffy hair. 'Now, where could your brother be hiding?'_

'_Biney's right there!' he pointed as an older boy with darker hair stepped out of his hiding place._

'_Hey Biney!' The woman smiled, offering out an affectionate hand to the boy._

'_You weren't supposed to tell her,' he huffed in mock annoyance, unable to keep a small smile off his face._

'Do you remember now?'

The unexpected voice made him jump; interrupting his thoughts he turned to see the familiar face of Rudy Cooper standing on the porch steps ahead of him.

No, not Rudy he reminded himself, now he remembered.

He was Brian Moser, his older brother.

'Biney…' he whispered, staring into the eyes of the man he now knew to be his brother.

'You always had trouble saying Brian,' he smiled fondly; stepping down the steps he approached Dexter slowly.

'I have a Brother…' the word Brother sounded so foreign coming from his mouth, he stood still, brows furrowed while he tried to comprehend what he now knew.

The harder he thought about it the more the pieces began to fit, everything made sense now as he thought back to the first time he met Rudy Cooper at his biological fathers house.

'_I've waited a long time to meet you.'_

'I'm your real brother,' Moser nodded, 'none of that foster bullshit,' he spat.

He shook his head and refocused his thoughts, that reminded him; where was Deb?

'Where's Deb?' Dexter snapped himself from his daze; pushing past Brian he bumped shoulders with him as he made his way hastily through the front door.

'Deborah?!' he shouted, frantically peering through every open door for a sign of his sister, the house was almost completely empty. There was no furniture, just bare floorboard's and definitely no sign of Deborah.

Just because Brian was his biological brother didn't mean he would allow him to hurt Deb. If Dexter could feel emotions he was sure he would feel love for Deb, he cared about her; he wouldn't let his older brother take away the only family he had ever known, he need to know she was safe.

'She's not here…' Brian sighed calmly; he looked on at Dexter pacing frantically, the older man held a bored expression. 'You know this isn't the way I envisioned our family reunion,' he said calmly.

'Where is she!' he yelled, he was becoming angry very quickly, he had to find his sister..

'Come on sit down, we can talk about this over a beer-'

'Deb!'

Dexter stood in the doorway of one of the old bedrooms, his hysteria growing.

Brian had to take action, before there meeting turned fowl, if Dexter lost his cool everything would be ruined.

He reached a hand into his pocket and silently stepped forward.

'I'm sorry Dexter; I didn't want to do it this way,'

Before Dexter could question the other man's words he felt a sharp prick at the back of his neck and strong arms wrapped around his shoulders, as every ounce of energy left his body the last thing he saw was his brother's emotionless face as his eyes slid shut and he was engulfed by darkness.

* * *

Dexter's eyes fluttered open wearily as he slowly drifted into unpleasant consciousness. A dim light made him squint his eyes and his head was pounding painfully, his vision was blurry and he couldn't even muster the energy to move any of his limbs, it felt like his head was filled with cotton wool.

'Nothing personal,'

His eyes wondered to the source of the voice, his brother sat across the table from him, fiddling with a glass bottle in his hand.

'I just wanted to have a beer with you before we got started,' he explained, rubbing his fingers against the smooth glass idly, 'you made that a little bit difficult,' he sighed, annoyance etched across his face.

'Sorry,' Dexter apologized as he slurred slowly; although he didn't mean it, he shifted in his seat only to notice that he was completely bound in duct tape.

What a reunion this was turning out to be.

'Don't apologize little brother,' he smiled, tapping the bottle against the table.

'We are blood brothers you and I' he spoke softly, taking a swig of beer he propped his feet up onto the table casually. 'Both fed the same lie our entire lives, we were both taught that it's wrong to be different.'

Brian looked up at the ceiling and stared at the cracks in the paintwork.

'It's amazing we survived watching mum die, don't you think?' he hummed in thought 'The chainsaw, the flying body parts,'

Dexter shook his head, trying to rid himself of the gory memory now filling his head, it made him feel queasy.

'There was so much blood,' Brian whispered.

'Stop,' he pleaded, the sound of a chainsaw and his mother's screams began to echo in his head, he pulled his bound wrists with the urge to cover his ears and pull himself into a small ball. He didn't want to think back to him and his brother sitting in a pool of their mother's blood.

'Sorry,' he muttered tipping his head back the older brother leaned back in his chair, 'Back then you was young enough to block it out, I guess the past is finally catching up with you.'

'It was so unfair,' he sighed, tapping his fingers against his chair leg in agitation 'Harry whisked you away like a knight in shining armour,' he laughed mockingly, 'you got a fresh start, a family, a new life…'

There was a long pause before Dexter broke the silence.

'What about you?' he was curious to know, what happened to his older brother that caused them to both go their separate ways.

'Me?' he laughed, the laughter sounded hollow. 'I was never put up for adoption like you, the doctors said I was too damaged, I spent the first 20 years of my life locked up in the nut house, how unfair is that?'

Brian's words sounded bitter.

'You were so young they thought they could fix you and throw you back into to society, but me? All Harry Morgan saw that night was a fucked up kid, a kid that was too far gone to be saved.'

Brian stood to his feet.

'But it's okay,' the anger seemingly disappear as he stepped forward and began cutting his binds, 'because I found you;'

Dexter winced as the binds came free and began rolling his shoulders to rid himself of the stiffness in his limbs.

'Can you imagine how I felt when I tracked you down and I realized that there was someone else out there who was exactly like me?' Moser rested a hand on his brother's shoulder.

'I don't have to imagine.'

Dexter stood to his feet as his brother wrapped his arms around him for a short moment. Dexter was pretty sure he was empty inside but for that short moment there was a tingling sensation inside of him, he pondered for a short moment; maybe this was what acceptance felt like?

'Now we can finally make up for lost time,' Brian smiled, patting his younger sibling on the back.

For the first time in his life Dexter Morgan found himself lost for words. Two murderers finding solace in one other? To others it might seem laughable, but to him it felt like a chance, maybe this was a new beginning.

'I thinks it's time to see Deborah.'

Of course Deb, he had totally forgotten about her; he'd been so overwhelmed with the possibility of a fresh start with his blood brother that he forgot she even existed, if he could feel guilt he was sure he'd be feeling it right now.

Brian's hand gripped him by the arm and steered him out of the back door and towards a hidden garage, he pushed him by the small of his back, encouraging him to open the door and step inside.

Dexter gazed at the still body that greeted him, the sight of his sisters pale skin enveloped in plastic shrink wrap looked so wrong. She was wrapped like a gift, a gift from Brian.

'I prepared her just the way you like it,' he smiled, circling the table like a predator.

Dexter stood still as he looked on in apprehension; this was one gift that he wasn't sure he could accept.

'I don't know if I can do this.'

Brian reached out towards the table beside them and grasped a knife in his hand before offering it to his younger brother.

'You can do it, you don't have to pretend with me Dexter, you can be who you really are,' he whispered 'you don't have to lie to yourself anymore, after this we can both be free.'

As Brian pushed the knife gently into his siblings grasp Dexter continued with his internal struggle.

He and Brian were similar in so many ways, they both had urges; unnatural urges to kill and watch the life leave people's eyes and watch the blood flow. His older brother was the only person in the world who could ever accept him for who he truly was. He understood what it was like to be different, to wear a mask so no one would ever see the real you. With Brian he could be himself, free from worry or fear of disgust and disappointment; something that he'd always dreamed of.

But unlike Brian Dexter had a code, one that he followed precisely and without hesitation and right now the code was telling him that Deb shouldn't be allowed to die like this; she wasn't a murderer, she hadn't done anything to deserve such a twisted fate, it went against everything he stood for.

'Come on Dexter, we can be reborn; you're not on your own anymore we can do this together!'

'But what about the code…'

Brian rolled his eyes with a frustrated huff.

'The code? Did Harry teach you that? Another lie that he tricked you into believing so you could be his perfect little puppet?' he smirked at Deborah lying motionless on the table. 'There's no such thing as the code Dexter, there's no such thing as justifiable murder, an eye for an eye…'

He let out a breathy sigh. 'It's all up to you now little brother.'

'I can't do this, not to Deb,' for the first time Dexter found himself unable to move. He was so fond of Deborah, his fondness for her was outweighing his desire to impress his brother.

'You're not like me, you're a killer, without reason or regret, you're…. Free.'

'You can be that way too Dexter, all you have to do is trust me.'

'I-I can't-'

'You can't be a killer and a hero!' he yelled angrily, Dexter was finally seeing his brother's true colors; the only reason he wanted her dead was because he was filled with jealousy and hatred. Deborah was part of the family that Brian never had, and now he wanted her out of the picture.

Just as Brian grasped his brother's hand around the knife Deborah's eyes flickered open, and at that moment Dexter had to make a choice; he had to choose between his blood brothers understanding or his adopted sister, the only family he had ever known.

As the knife inched closer Dexter made his decision.

It took every ounce of his strength to push the knife away from Deb's prone defenseless body; despite their slight difference in height Brian was much stronger than he looked. Just like himself, he mused as he gripped his brother's wrist tightly and thought back to the martial arts classes he took as a teenager, practice makes perfect.

The blood splatter analyst tried to ignore his sisters muffled screams as he fought desperately for control of the knife. Deborah was his sister, it was his job to protect her.

'Don't do this!' he gasped as his wrist was twisted at a painful angle, he didn't want to fight his brother.

'You know I can't do that.'

Deborah looked on at the fight from her position on the table as she fought the drug that was pulling her away from consciousness, trying to make sense of the blurred figures in the corner of her eye line.

Her vision cleared just in time to see Rudy pull a brown haired figure into a painfully tight looking headlock. Her eyes widened as she recognized instantly the familiar green long sleeved t-shirt she'd seen a thousand times. She felt tears gather in her eyes, it was Dexter; he had come to save her.

The two men spun in each-others grasp, battling for dominance, she gasped in shock as she saw Dexter struggling to break free.

He tried desperately the throw off his brother's weight but his body was still weary and groggy from being drugged a short time ago, his movements were slow and uncoordinated. Despite the adrenaline in his system his reaction times were far too slow, as he felt Brian's arm wrap around his neck tightly he felt defeated and helpless.

Dexter gasped as the knife caught him on the side of the cheek; he winced at the stinging sensation as he felt blood begin to trickle down his face, just like the blood of his victims; how ironic.

Two brothers, born murders and now one would kill the other, seemed there was no chance of a happy ending for them both after all.

With his last breath he managed to knock the knife free from his brother's hand but as they scrambled to the floor Brian still kept his gasp strong.

The sound of police sirens echoed through the air, this was his only chance to keep Deb safe. He just had too keep Brian distracted long enough for the police to get here, it didn't matter if Brian killed him, as long as Deb was safe that was all that mattered.

Dexter clawed desperately at his brothers arm, his vision was spinning; despite how much he choked and gasped he couldn't breathe.

He was running out of oxygen and all he could hear were sirens and Deborah screaming. This couldn't be the end; the great Dexter Morgan couldn't go out like this.

As soon as Brian heard the sirens he knew he would have to flee, but he also knew that if he released Dexter from his grasp it would all be over too quickly, the only dead body on the floor would be his; then there would definitely be no chance of ever starting over with his younger brother. He had to act fast, he didn't have to time to fix things now, he would have to do it later, he would have to forget about Deborah or it was all over.

'I'll see you soon Brother,' Brian's voice whispered quietly in his ear 'this isn't over.'

Before Dexter's oxygen starved mind could comprehend his words Brian kneed him hard in the face, there was a sickening crack as his knee made impact with the bridge of his nose before releasing his grasp and throwing him hard against the table.

He gasped for breath as his bruised neck was released but found himself dazed instantly when his head collided with the sharp corner of the metal table. All of his senses blurred as his head made impact and he hit the floor.

Dexter was stunned, unable to move.

He lay against the hard wooden floor, swimming in a foggy sea of black. He heard shouting and raised voices before he saw Brian slip out the back door, he cursed himself; he'd dropped his guard and now he'd got away.

Suddenly the door splintered open as Doakes and the other FBI agents flooded the room; Dexter could here Deborah shrieking restlessly around her gag.

The blood splatter analyst reassured himself, she was okay for now; she was safe.

The sound of thudding footsteps and a hand shaking his shoulder made him wince in discomfort but he didn't have the energy to move. As blood dripped down his aching forehead and onto the floor beneath him Dexter let himself slip away into the darkness.

**Chapter 2 anybody?**


End file.
